A portion of the Friendship Village Care Center in Sunset Hills is scheduled to be demolished and replaced with green space after the city’s Board of Aldermen approved an amended development plan for the demolition Sept. 14.

Mike Warwick of Civil Engineering Design Consultants said the building was no longer in use and requested a suspension of rules for a second reading at the same meeting, which was approved.

The board approved a different amended development plan earlier this year for changes to the on-site parking lot after finding out it was constructed differently from a 2017 approval. The unapproved construction removed four parking spaces and added 6,000 square feet of pavement. 

That plan also called for Friendship Village to build a decorative gate in place of the un-decorative single arm gate on the property. 

In September, the board found that the gate had not been built yet because a timeframe hadn’t been established. 

“Friendship Village, being a good neighbor, should follow through on their commitments to their other neighbors,” Ward 4 Alderman Fred Daues said. “I’d like at least an oral commitment of some type of timeframe for this gate.”

Warwick said the petitioner will have the decorative gate built before the end of the year. It is to remain closed and only be used for emergency access, but has been used by construction vehicles in the past.